Gutter Ball

Another rainy weekend in Seattle.  Robin is getting older and we are all getting a little antsy with how little we seem to leave the house these days (compared to our former lives).  Dave planted the idea of bowling in Linus' head.  Linus bombarded me as soon as I came down the stairs Saturday morning. 

A quick Google search led us to our morning destination --West Seattle Bowl.  We managed to get everyone dressed, fed, with teeth brushed in under 45 minutes.  It's amazing how fast young ones can move when motivated.

I am no bowling pro by any stretch of the imagination.  However, I can proudly state I one time did manage to bowl a turkey (3 strikes in a row--boo yah!).  I dominate Dave at Wii bowling, but that isn't really saying much. 

ready for a little bowling with babies

There have apparently been some technological advances in the world of bowling with kids.  Gone are the days of tubes as bumpers.  I was kind of excited to bowl with bumpers, pad my score a little.  The guy at the counter entered our names for us and apparently that only the first two bowlers were kids.  When I went to bowl the first time,  the bumpers suddenly lifted up. Doh. 

This is maybe the only time he bowled this way.  His preferred method was more of a shot put throw.  He landed between the gutter and the bumper multiple times.

assuming the position

My first time up I bowled a strike.  Sadly, it was not an omen of good things to come.  I bowled my lowest score since grade school.  It was bad.  I barely beat Eileen.  Dave fared slightly better, Linus not so much.  After our first game we noticed another lane with young children had a crazy contraption that lets you line up the shot and give the ball some speed.  This was good because Eileen's ball was clocking a speed of 1.3 mi/hour.  I was a little nervous.  Competing against that contraption and the bumpers meant I was really going to have to up my game.

The contraption

We all played a little better.  The scores were spread about the same with Dave in the lead, myself, Eileen, and then poor Linus.  I assured Linus that he was still a better bowler than his Aunt Sally and that made him feel a little better.

Robin found bowling to be less than thrilling, but did enjoy all the white noise.

Despite an embarrassing amount of gutter balls, bowling was pretty fun.  Lots of high fives, celebratory dances, stylish shoes, and good family time.